Development of Gold-Alloy Nanocomposite for Tetrahydrocurcumin Delivery

Abstract

The phytochemical tetrahydrocurcumin (THC), a major metabolite of curcumin, demonstrates higher anticancer activity, systemic bioavailability, and stability than curcumin itself. However, the poor aqueous solubility of THC causes it to be susceptible to oxygen and is poorly absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, a delivery system is needed to address the delivery issues of THC. Gold-copper nanocomposites (Au-CuNPs) are good candidates for drug delivery and have been shown to have anticancer and antibacterial effects with the advantages of decreasing the cost of gold and enhancing the stability of copper. In this study, a nanocomposite composed of gold and copper alloy was used to design a THC delivery system. The Turkevich method was used to create a bioengineered Au-CuNP system for delivering the herbal phytochemical THC. UV spectroscopy, FTIR analysis, drug entrapment efficiency, and zeta potential were used to characterise the prepared bioengineered nanocomposite system. To confirm the biological properties, xCELLigence real-time monitoring of the Caco-2 cell cytotoxic activity of THC-loaded gold-copper nanocomposites (THC AuCuNPs) was performed. Au-CuNPs in a 1:1 ratio was selected to prepare the THC delivery system. The amount of THC loaded was optimised by selecting 2 mg THC due to the highest possible amount of drug loading with optimum nanoparticle size characteristics. FTIR analysis showed that THC was successfully loaded in the delivery system. The mean particle diameter of THC Au-CuNPs was 248.8 nm, indicating the successful formation of nanocomposites. The cell culture studies showed that the THC Au-CuNPs have significant cytotoxic activity on Caco-2 cell lines. Finally, the anticancer activity of the THC Au-CuNPs was confirmed in this study.